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Instinct (1999)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Reviews Counted: 66
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 48

A convoluted and predictable plot overshadows the performances.

Average Rating: 3.7/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 12

A convoluted and predictable plot overshadows the performances.

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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 30,160

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Movie Info

A man who leaves humanity behind to live with animals returns to society under unpleasant circumstances, but with valuable lessons about human and animal relationships. Anthony Hopkins stars as Ethan Powell, a noted anthropologist studying the behavior of mountain gorillas in Rwanda. The longer Powell follows the apes, the more he comes to admire their simple but peaceful society. He begins to spend most of his time with the apes until one day he ventures into the jungle and doesn't return.

R, 2 hr. 3 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Jon Turteltaub

Written By: Gerald Di Pego

In Theaters: Jun 4, 1999 Wide

On DVD: Jan 15, 2002

Buena Vista Pictures

Cast

Anthony Hopkins
Dr. Ethan Powell
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Dr. Theo Caulder
Donald Sutherland
Ben Hillard
Maura Tierney
Lyn Powell
George Dzundza
Dr. John Murray
John Aylward
Warden Keefer
Thomas Q Morris
Pete
Doug Spinuzza
Nicko
Paul Bates
Bluto

Critic Reviews for Instinct

All Critics (88) | Top Critics (23) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (48) | DVD (7)

If there's anything worse than a movie hammered together out of pieces of bad screenplays, it's a movie made from the scraps of good ones.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

[Hopkins and Gooding Jr.] keep Instinct afloat on its sea of simplisms through a succession of climaxes until at last it reaches its unavoidable ending.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: New York Times

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Lawrence Van Gelder

New York Times

Top Critic

Yet another spiritual weepie that decries human follies and yet puts a happy face on it all.

September 24, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

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Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

anyone who goes to 'Instinct' expecting a terrifying thriller will find 'The Serenity of the Gorillas' is a long, long way from 'The Silence of the Lambs.'

November 14, 2005 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

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James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

A guilty pleasure.

January 2, 2005 Full Review Source: StaciWilson.com

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Staci Layne Wilson

StaciWilson.com

How sad to hear Oscar winners Hopkins and Gooding,Jr. utter melodramatic dialogue during most of their scenes together.

August 10, 2003 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews

| Comment (1)

Betty Jo Tucker

ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Seu t�tulo poderia ter sido 'O Sil�ncio dos Gorilas Sonhando com a Liberdade no Ninho'.

May 31, 2002 Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena

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Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

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Audience Reviews for Instinct

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Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, George Dzundza, Maura Tierney, John Ashton, John Aylward, Doug Spinuzza, Paul Bates, Rex Linn, Rod McLachlan, Kurt Smildsin, Jim R. Coleman, Tracey Ellis Director: Jon Turteltaub Summary: After a two-year stint living among a family of gorillas in the

July 26, 2009